Striking the right balance between the demands of work and family life has long been a challenge. For people who want to have both thriving personal and professional lives – without feeling guilty for neglecting either – it is a particularly pertinent issue.

Generally speaking, employees are most concerned about their pay and career development. At Hang Lung Properties, we make sure our remuneration package is competitive and that we offer good opportunities for career growth. But there is more to that.

Hang Lung Properties has a strong focus on the quality of its employees and the mission of the human resources (HR) department is to attract and retain high quality staff who can grow with the company.

We are dedicated to organising engagement programmes to maintain a satisfying long-term relationship with our staff and help them build a strong sense of belonging. We believe building a bond between us and the staff will boost productivity and quality.

We currently have almost 3,000 employees in Hong Kong and mainland China. Our local HR team is responsible in driving staff development initiatives for the group, including the mainland.

Since our development projects span across the mainland, our task is to maintain “oneness” within the group. Over the past year, we had various programmes to drive the “Hang Lung as One” idea, which is about nurturing the ties between the company, the staff and their family members.

We believe quality family life can ultimately benefit our business growth. Basically, staff can concentrate on their work without having to worry too much about their family complaining over long working hours. That’s why our programmes attempt to help their family understand more about the workplace, and how they could support the staff in their work. So, our engagement programmes are not limited to our staff – we also take care of their family.

In October 2011, we had our annual outing in Jinan, capital of Shandong province, to visit our newly opened 171,000-square-metre Parc 66 shopping mall in the city centre. About 300 participants, including staff and their family, joined the three-day-and-two-night trip, during which we visited the landmark development and spent time sightseeing together. We also had cosy moments with our mainland colleagues and we really treasured the time we shared and expressed our personal appreciation to the staff working away from the Hong Kong office.

On December 30 last year, during the festive season, we opened our office to the family and friends of our staff. They were welcomed to take a look and feel the working environment in all offices in Hong Kong and the mainland. The event has helped build understanding within the family and boost synergy between our staff. We will continue to do this every year so they can keep up with our development.

The management of Hang Lung Properties has given us a lot of support in conducting these engagement programmes, which also include regular voluntary work, social clubs and fun competition.

Staff are invited to take part in focus groups before the launch of a programme. They also participate in the evaluation. So far, their participation has been very encouraging. The success of our previous staff engagement programmes has given us the confidence to go bigger and further, and we are convinced that this is the way to go.